Well, the Kaos War project is moving along much more slowly than I anticipated. One of the downsides to writing in someone else’s world is that you need to know it as well as they do. The guys at SRI are still busy with other aspects of the game’s development, so the story is on hold until we have time for numerous discussions.

Until then, I’ve decided to start work on revising book two, The Mists of Faeron. Book one is finished and sent to the publisher. I’m hoping hard copies will be available in the next few weeks. The artwork, both interior and cover, look amazing. As usual, Henning did a fantastic job. I can’t wait to see what he does for the second book.

I’ll be posting new sample chapters for the first book, as well as the Foreward - my little attempt at explaining just what I was thinking when I decided to prolong the release of book three. The first three chapters, in .pdf format, will be in the Books section. That should give enough to show just what’s different about this new version. Thanks again to my beta readers for hanging in there while I got sucked back into playing WoW.

As far as the second novel, I don’t have plans for a major overhaul to the story. There are some things I’d like to elaborate on, which will lengthen it a bit. The biggest change will be a switch in point of view. All three books were originally written in 3rd person omniscient, sort of along the lines of watching a movie. They’ll now be in 3rd person limited, which is more akin to being in the head of one character per scene, seeing all that happens through their perception.

By the way, Happy Halloween everyone! I’ll be celebrating my 37th birthday in two days, picking up a copy of Neverwinter Nights 2. Don’t worry though, I’m not falling off the wagon. I’m done with online games that take way too much time for the entertainment value they provide. I’d much rather spend my free time watching Veronica Mars or kicking ass as Sam Fisher for an hour here and there. I guess I’m just getting old. Good riddance to the e-peen!

I’ll post an update as soon as The Last Incarnation v2 is available.

I’m roughly thirty pages from finishing the rewrite’s first draft. At my current rate, I should have those done by the end of this week. Once I go through a rigorous editing process and get the remaining interior art (and map) from Henning, the book will be ready to go! No idea on how long it takes for the change to appear on Amazon or Barnes & Noble, but anyone ordering the book will automatically get the new version.

Hang onto those old versions! They might be worth something someday. Nah, not really. A side by side comparison might be fun, though. Anyone interested in a signed copy of the revision can contact me by email. I’ll have a few on hand myself, if anyone in the Phoenix area wants to save on shipping.

Plans for the immediate future, once the revision is with the publisher? Begin writing all the lore for Kaos War: Rise of the Fallen. Once I have enough notes compiled, I’ll be starting the first Kaos novel. My estimates are always terrible, but I imagine two months for a first draft - assuming I continue to stay away from World of Warcraft.

Speaking of estimates, The Last Incarnation revision is currently around 105,000 words. With the changes yet to be made, that should put the book around 375 pages. That’s a sizable chunk larger than the first. Hmm, maybe this should have been a blog entry. Ah well!

So far, so good. I’ve mostly been able to put WoW aside and focus on writing again. I’m five pages into chapter twenty-three of the rewrite, and things are moving along just fine. Our home renovations, which included the computer room, is finally done. Just in time for my new Dell, too! That leaves me some quiet time each day for writing, depending on my daughter’s mood and what cartoons we have saved on the tivo for her. Have I ever mentioned how much I love tivo? The only thing that would be better is a complete library of everything ever filmed that came with an easy to use interface that allowed you to watch anything on demand. I’m sure that will come some day, when shows are more about entertainment than money.

In any case, I find myself being asked quite a bit why I’m spending time on this rewrite when I haven’t finished the third book. Truth is, I have finished the third book. Too bad it’s only a rough draft! I wrote a foreword for the rewrite that I thought I would share, since it briefly explains my rationale.

ForewardThe biggest question I’m asked, regarding this book, is why did I feel the need to revise it before the trilogy was complete? Suffice it to say that I know a lot more about writing and the publishing industry now than I did two years ago. I don’t mean to disparage self-publishing or the POD (print on demand) industry, but at the time this novel was first printed, I had no idea what I was doing beyond wanting to see my manuscript in print. I say manuscript, because it was a first draft at best.

I wrote this novel over ten years ago and hadn’t given it a second look until the beginning of 2005. A friend was looking to self-publish a work-related book, so I looked into it as well. I thought it would be great to see my novel finally in print, to have it somewhere on a shelf or pass it out to family and friends. In that respect, self-publishing and POD are truly ideal. I did some research and found what I felt was the best. To be honest, I was expecting to be turned down, because I knew the book needed work. When I first wrote it, I got lazy toward the end and just wanted it done – so I could send it off to publishers right away! Live and learn.

I was surprised, to say the least, when I received a positive response, that my book was finally going to be published. I hurried to do some final editing, make some name changes here and there with global find and replace, then shipped it off to the publisher. It didn’t really dawn on me what I was doing until I was nearly finished writing the third book in the trilogy… destroying any hope of ever having these books printed by what’s commonly known as a “traditional” publisher. A few months of intensive research, speaking with published authors, agents and publishers, left me with two choices: discard all that I’d done and start a new series or go back and make this trilogy the absolute best that I can, self-published or not, and do right by those few who had purchased my books. Well you know which one I chose.

I didn’t just go back and revise this novel, fixing all those glaring typos that appeared in the first. No, from top to bottom, I rewrote the book. I used every little tidbit of advice I could find during my research. I may not have succeeded in creating the best fantasy novel that’s out there, but I did write a book I can be proud of, something I could show to anyone in the world without stumbling over explanations. No more public domain clipart, either. Henning is one of the best character artists in the world. I couldn’t have asked for a nicer guy to give my writing a face, because people do judge a book by its cover.

So the answer to that big question is, I did it for you, the reader. OK, I did it for myself, too. Being a writer is synonymous with being selfish. I hope you enjoy the changes and don’t complain overly much when I rewrite the second book as well, because the third won’t be out until I do. It will just have to remain here on my desk, a first draft among many, waiting to be shaped into a book you deserve.

J.A. Giunta

Hopefully, that answers more questions than it raises. In regards to the game I’ll be working on, that will begin once I’ve finished this rewrite. Yes, that means the rewrite of The Mists of Faeron and Out of the Dark will be somewhat postponed. I want to get at least one Kaos novel finished before I start on those. I may not have all that many fans right now, but I’m hoping the few I have are patient.